For the three Southern California high school stars, nothing could be finer than to play for North Carolina—except leaving the Tar Heels to come home to play for the UCLA Bruins, The Los Angeles Times reports.

Twins David and Travis Wear left Chapel Hill, N.C., last spring after only one season. Larry Drew II left in February after 2½ seasons, though he said he had contemplated leaving before that.

All three said there were multiple factors, beyond playing time, that caused them to transfer, including fickle fans, a breakdown in communication with the coaching staff and a failure of the Carolina experience to meet expectations.

Drew's emotional exit this spring came after he was replaced in the starting lineup to freshman PG Kendall Marshall. But he told The Times there was much more to his unhappiness.

“I was there for 2½ years and I didn't play my whole freshman year, so it's not if I'm playing or not playing,” Drew said, according to the newspaper. “It was just a buildup of things since I first got there.”

The Wears didn't wait nearly as long to make a change. Their freshman season came on the heels of North Carolina's 2009 national title, and after losing five of their top seven players from that team the Tar Heels went 5-11 in the ACC and were relegated to the NIT.

“It just wasn't that fun of a year,” said Travis Wear, a 6-10 forward who averaged 3.5 points in 10.1 minutes a game.

The Wears also endured what David described to The Times as the “shock” of a different culture in Chapel Hill, and they missed the encouragement of family and friends. They couldn't always count on Tar Heel fans’ support, especially when the team struggled.

North Carolina coach Roy Williams said he tried to shield Drew from criticism he faced during his sophomore season, when the team's fortunes fell.

“I explained to everyone he wasn't throwing the ball to Tyler Hansbrough, Danny Green and Wayne Ellington,” Williams said, according to The Times, referring to the stars from the national championship team.

However, Drew's troubles transcended the fans, his father, Atlanta Hawks coach Larry Drew Sr., says. His son considered transferring after the freshman year in which he barely played.

As a sophomore, playing alongside the Wears, Drew started 36 of 37 games and averaged six assists, tied for second in the ACC. But he never felt completely comfortable, his father said. And the family became upset about the way the change in the starting lineup, from Drew to Marshall, was handled.

“Nothing was said to Larry, nothing was said to me. That was a little hard to swallow,” Drew Sr. said, a claim Williams disputed to The Times.

However, what surprised Williams most, according to the newspaper, wasn't that Drew left, but the timing of his departure—in the middle of a season and after a 32-point victory over Boston College in which Drew had nine assists and only one turnover.

Drew told The Times he had no reservations about the timing of his exit: “I feel like if I have other options, I should be able to explore them. By transferring, if I feel like if there's something out there better for me that I could pursue, I'm going to do it.”

Drew and the Wear twins will soon wear a different shade of blue. The Wears will be sophomores and eligible to play for UCLA next season. Drew’s final year of eligibility will be in 2012-13, after sitting out a year.

"I'm just glad they decided this was going to be a better fit for them than being that far away," Bruins coach Ben Howland told The Times.

He's not the only one.

"Every day I wake up, I'm just really thankful to be here,” Drew said. “It's a second chance, so to speak.”